Saturday, July 3, 2010

The true meaning of the Statue of Liberty

It seems that many people misinterpret the true meaning of the Statue of Liberty. They believe it means that the U.S. wants the impoverished, the poorly educated, and the unfortunate of other nations because of the slogan that is implanted on the base of the statue: "Give me your tired, give me your poor, give me your huddled masses."

Yet that saying was not what the original purpose of the statue was all about. In fact, the original intent of the statue was to give us your folks who are fleeing oppression and we will provide them with an opportunity at a free and successful life. We will give them the opportunity to provide a good life for themselves.

It appears that the "huddled masses" quote was misinterpreted a while back to mean that we want your down trodden, your poor, your unfortunate, your disadvantaged, your uneducated, and we will provide you with a free education, free health care, and allow you to become democrats.

Actually, Emma Lazarus wrote the "huddled masses" poem as part of a campaign to build the pedestal of the statue. The poem was called The New Colossus, and it was written in 1883, and not even inserted onto the pedestal of the statue until 1903 when it was engraved onto the base.

The poem was forgotten and not even a part of the celebration of the opening of the statue in 1883, and it was not until 1903 that it gained much attention outside the original contest to raise money.

In fact, the original intent of the statue had nothing to do with immigration, it had to do with freedom and liberty. France was thanking us for being the first nation ever to make the rulers of their country aware that freedom and liberty was possible. This is ultimately what lead to the French Revolution.

Of course the French Revolution failed because they fought for the rights of man (man as a single entity) while the founders of the U.S. fought for the rights of individual men (we all have inalienable rights that cannot be taken away by anything other than the government).

The reason the statue was build had nothing to do with the Lazarus poem, and yet once again history was twisted so that one group of people who wanted to convince the children of the world the Statue of Liberty was all about immigration. This was all one big lie that was taught in schools since 1903. This was a distortion by the progressives to make you think America was willing to take anyone, from any place in the world or universe.

The truth is, the statue was a celebration of the Declaration of Independence. In fact, we don't call it the statue of immigration, we call it the statue of liberty. Lady Liberty is stepping forward. She is meant to be carrying the torch of liberty from the United States to the rest of the world.

And in the proceeding years, that is exactly what she did. And she offered her freedom to France and the rest of Europe, and those countries came up with their own form of freedom, and their own interpretation. That's what other countries do. We have a right to choose our own forms of freedom.

And yet none compare to that of the United States. None. We were the first to establish freedom, we were the first to signs anything like the Declaration of Independence, and we were the first to form a U.S. Constitution that was meant to protect the natural rights of men.

And yet, all these years later, the only country to understand the true meaning of the Declaration of Independence, of the U.S. Constitution, and the Statue of Liberty are those who would consider themselves classical liberals and now conservative or libertarian. The rest of the world has their own skewered interpretation of the true meaning of what kind of freedom we have here in the United States.

Those who intentionally or unintentionally misinterpret the meaning of these great documents, or this great statue, are those who mean to change the United States to be something other than what the founders had intended.

41 comments:

Anonymous said...

BOLLOCKS

Anonymous said...

God bless the USA

Anonymous said...

You seem to think that individual liberty is consistent with controls on the free movement of individual people - this is not the case.

Anonymous said...

Why do you fail to mention anything about enlightenment and the fact that enlightenment originated in Europe. Also, without the aid of France we never would have won the revolutionary war. It is very dangerous to teach people that their country is exceptional and above the rest of the world. It is no wonder other countries see us as arrogant naives. Misinformed blogs like this do little to change that .

Rick Frea said...

1. Because that wasn't the point of the post.

2. America IS exceptional. This is true because we are a republic and our people are free. We are not arrogant, we are enjoying the rewards of that freedom. When other people see how great freedom can be, they want it too. If they like what they see they will have to fight for it, because freedom must be fought for -- every day. America is the champion of freedom. We are a mighty nation, and our people are happy, and our economy is great, because of freedom. Just by looking at any history book, and even the recent history book in the Middle East, you can see that because of America many people now live in freedom. Some dictators misinform their people about freedom, yet in today's world it's hard not to see how wonderful life can be when free. It's hard not to want it for yourself. It's hard not to want to fight for it yourself, so you can have what Americans have. That's not arrogance, it's not misinformation, it's a fact.

Rebel Jo said...

GREAT ARTICLE, VERY INFORMATIVE. HOW CAN I SHARE THIS ON FACEBOOK???

WinstonFranklinJoseph said...

WHAT????? You had slavery in 1865. You killed 90% of Native Americans and put the rest into the concentration camps aka reservations. YOU HAD SEGREGATION LAWS IN 1960s. You support the holocaust of Palestinian people in their own Palestine. LOL. Jesus Christ!!!! ... twisted people.
PS tens of thousands innocent children from Hiroshima and Nagasaki thank you for bringing freedom to japan

Ape said...

This is so freaking confusing. You say "in fact, original intent of the statue saying to give us your folks who are fleeing oppression and we will provide them with an opportunity at a free and successful life. We will give them the opportunity to provide a good life for themselves." Then you turned around and basically said in fact that was NOT what it meant, that it was just a lie taught in school, that the statue had nothing to do with immigration. So did it, or did it not?!

Anonymous said...

What an interesting bit of sophistry is presented here. When one's political agenda colors every bit of one's ability to reason, it reminds me of the story of the man who fell asleep on the couch with Limburger cheese on his mustache. Not realizing this, he woke, took a sniff and exclaimed, "This couch stinks!" He jumped up, took a whiff of the room and exclaimed, "This room stinks!" He then ran about the whole house and yelled, "The whole house stinks!" With this, he ran outside. He then concluded, with a scream, "The whole world stinks!"

The quote is NOT:

"Give me your tired, give me your poor, give me your huddled masses."

It was very misleading, but perhaps more conducive to an obvious political agenda, to omit so much of the actual quote, without indicating this fact with, at the very least, an ellipsis and possibly a short disclaimer. Sorry, but let's call altering the quote what it is. It is to lie by omission.

The quote is:

"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

It might also help to understand the quote by reading the source poem in it's entirety:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

--Emma Lazarus 1883

Anonymous said...

Move to Europe asshole! This is the greatest country in the world and you've been brainwashed by an ignorant leftest ideology.

Humberto said...

Cool!

Iam Royalty said...

@Anonymous said... I FEEL LIKE YOU!!!

Anonymous said...

And you were around to know that the "true meaning" was, right? You come off like a demented religious zealot.

Anonymous said...

What about the shackles and chains around her ankles that you can only see if you're in an aircraft. What does that mean?

Anonymous said...

The shackles and chains lay at her feet because they are broken and that means she is free.

Unknown said...

It sounds to me like she's on house arrest, because of tyrants.

Lady LibertyCap said...

Ironically, it appears that you are the one who has been brainwashed, my friend. America, as with everywhere else, has its virtues but also has its vices. To say that America is the greatest country in the world is nothing more than an opinion. Unless you're well traveled internationaly and have socialilized with many people (poor and rich, young and old, man and woman) within that culture then your opinion is a rather ignorant and biased one at best. Keep in mind that America is plagued with propaganda, false or misleading information, to keep the people docile, amendable, content, ignorant, hopeful, accepting,and submissive. To an extent this is necessary to maintain law and order. However it is used and misused to often and much of it can be damaging to our health, cultural relations, knowledge, and spirit. The way you responded to this person's polite comment leads one to think that you may have drank the Kool aid, metaphorically speaking. I suggest reading more non biased educational books from your library. The information within them tends to hold more reliable information than most of the information you find on the media. I apologise if I offended you, that is not my primary intention. Primarily I wish to fuel your desire (with raging fire) to expand your mind and spirit as well as to hopefully teach you to empathize with whom you tastelessly called a brain washed asshole. On the bright side, those who are brainwashed must have a really clean and shiny brain. Personally I prefer a free and dirty mind,but that's just my opinion. May you have a blessed and happy life, friend.

Anonymous said...

So this poem was about people seeking freedom,then how has this gotten so twisted to people's thinking that it was towards letting immigrants into our country.?!Sounds like we need to research this alittle more so that way we don't come off as being racist when we don't let in Muslims.Why do we as a nation have to let everyone in?Just because of that poem & how they interpret the meaning does not mean we accept aƱybody & everyone.We have enough people here sometimes I think to many people.

Unknown said...

Fact checked

Unknown said...

Around of general debauchery with ol' Benjy Franky and he'd probably convince ure high an mighty Frenchy king to help America also....thank goodness we aint have to pay them back....aka...French Revolution.

Concerned citizen said...

The quotes known to the United States and I mean past tense were, The Statue of Liberty "huddled masses",three freedoms, "from fear, hunger, and to worship (Franklin Roosevelt) and "don't ask what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country (John F. Kennedy). Now it is "No Vacancies", My God is not yours, and "What have you done for me lately?" The last 3 were made the last 1 to 5 years by our naturalized "huddled masses."

Anonymous said...

Your assessment is so far off. If you really want to know what the poem means, why not research the author? Emma Lazarus was a wealthy Jewish liberal from New York City. She devoted much of her short life to providing support for emigrants. The inscription on the statue means exactly what it says. Don’t spin it to fit your agenda. Emma Lazarus was who she was and her legacy is a liberal one devoted to welcoming the downtrodden and making America great for all who crossed its shores. She would never write a poem with the meaning you portrayed. You need to learn more about the author before you offer misinterpretations of her work.

Anonymous said...

there is no free education, nor free healthcare in this country, even for US born citizens so not sure why this text implies that emigrants expect it for some reason as soon as they cross the borders? I think they expect opportunity to provide for themselves, just like first immigrants from all over the world expected it few hundred years ago...

Anonymous said...

"And she offered her freedom to France and the rest of Europe, and those countries came up with their own form of freedom, and their own interpretation. That's what other countries do."

You are saying that there was no such thing as "freedom" in European countries until the USA existed and then other countries copied the USA?

LMFAO

Unknown said...

That poem was written in 1883 by Emma Lazarus, who held a different meaning to the statue then intended, to raise money for the base of the statue,which was dedicated on 10/28/1886.The sculptor was FrƩdƩric Auguste Barthold. France gave it to us as a thank you for being in an alliance with France in the American Revolution. Part of Emma's poem was inscribed on a plaque, which had been forgotten and wasn't added to the lower base of the statue until 1903. The statue held no meaning to immigration when constructed. It was unofficially thought as one especially in the 1920's when our immigration laws had been changing.

mariomo437 said...

I enjoyed reading alll of the comments, especially the Feb 1, 2017 and the Oct 20, 2018. The Feb one is very meaningful for me. The Oct one provided some interesting facts about Emma Lazarus which I was not aware of. For me, the words she wrote, “give me your tired, your poor...etc. “ have a very special meaning. And the fact that they are associated with the STATUE OF LIBERTY, the meaning became even more special. A short personal experience will explain my appreciation for those words. It’s about 9:30PM in May 18, 1947, on the deck of a converted military ship carrying immigrants from Europe. I was standing along the railing facing the outline of my new country eight days before my 13th birthday. We were to disembark the following day. There must have been a road along the coastline because I could see the headlights of moving vehicles. Then when I looked to the left the famous “LADY LIBERTY” was standing there high above the water and land. All of a sudden I felt bumps forming all over my body. I suppose that the bumps were actually common goose pimples. The bumps went away shortly. Why this reaction? Probably a burst of happiness because what I saw was real. As a kid I had heard stories about this new land, and I was very happy to be a part of it. That’s my simple story which at 84, it still elicits a similar response.

Anonymous said...

... In terms of being the first to have freedom enshrined in law, I humbly submit this evidence; Magna Carta, published and signed 1215

Unknown said...

Astounding! The whole lot of you need to go back to school. You're commenting on this half cocked. Read a few, no, a whole bunch of history books then with some well informed perspective, come back and comment.

Unknown said...

Astounding! The whole lot of you need to go back to school. You're commenting on this half cocked. Read a few, no, a whole bunch of history books then with some well informed perspective, come back and comment.

Unknown said...

If you have enlightenment please share it but saying go read a lot of history books and come back is just plain stupid in itself.

Unknown said...

Facts

Unknown said...

So true. They have been brain washed. I always tell people to go to the library or take a history civic class. They cannot tell what true and false information on the internet.

Just a Guy said...

Of course the US is the first country to make a US Constitution. I mean, that's just straight dumb-dumb to even say. However, England made a Magna Carta before we did. In ancient times Athens had a Constitution. If you knew your history you would know that James Madison studied ancient and contemporary civilizations and governments extensively to try and understand why some stood and some fell. He pulled pieces from all of them to create his Virginia Plan.

You also seem to know little of Emma Lazarus or her literary work. What inspired her was literally the Russian Pogroms. She was of Jewish ancestry and became a fierce advocate for all immigrants. She even founded a technical school in New York to give poor immigrants the training they would need to become self sufficient, because just expecting people to show up in a foreign country and be magically ready to go is imbecilic at best. She fought her whole life for these things and her poetry and writings till the day she died reflected that message. Yes... part of The New Colossus is about fleeing from oppressive regimes, but to say she was not also very clearly stating that we will take in those you don't want, the poor, the homeless, the wretched refuse (the ones that other countries see only as waste) is just wrong. Because that's what she devoted her life to. In fact that is the very definition of the American Dream that drove so many to immigrate, to pass by The Statue of Liberty and the halls of Ellis Island. It isn't about let's give everyone free health care and free education etc. It's about let's give everyone a fair chance. Because from those huddled masses, that wretched refuse of the teeming shores came some of the greatest innovations of the past 2 centuries. And THIS nation got to benefit from it because we gave them that chance to become who they did. We lifted them up. We allowed them to breathe free.

You're also wrong about the purpose of the Statue of Liberty. It was gifted to the US in 1886, 110 years after we fought for Independence. It had nothing to do with that. Laboulaye, the Frenchman whose idea it was, was an abolitionist and even an honorary member of several abolitionist societies in America. His reasoning for the Statue was to serve as an acknowledgement of America abolishing slavery, and to serve as a call to the French people to rise up against an oppressive monarchy.

You got so many things wrong in this post I wonder where you got any of this information.

Anonymous said...

And now babies in prisons

Americaforall said...

You seem to really harp on the “uneducated” part which is not anywhere in the poem nor has anybody ever said that. That’s just you, trying to make yourself feel better about turning oppressed people away from our county. America was built by immigrants and is a country for immigrants. If you want to be in a white homogeneous society, move to Scandinavia. They probably wouldn’t take you though considering that you don’t seem particularly educated (you misspelt the word ‘Freedom’ in the title of your blog post) lol

Neicy7vens said...

Just a Guy...I read... and read all THE comments and waited to see if ANYONE would get it RIGHT...
You're the ONLY human in here... that got it 100% absolutely CORRECT!!!!!!!....My God!

Anonymous said...

Children of the White Matrix, making up History ( as always ) to justify their racism :( America had Pilgrams who started this country, who this inscription fits well for their vision of freedom & opportunity ! To somehow "FORGET " it was immigrants that made it all happen is to say white slavery built Americas economy :( . If the author of this post had any integrity, he would have established that even those In This Country as slaves were not given the Freedom he so likes to imagine ever existed in America for all "citizens " :( By the way, America NEVER OUTLAWED SLAVERY..you really need to READ the 13th amendment for yourself :( In fact, it established the Perameters to having slavery LEGALIZED :(

Anonymous said...

Actually, Just a Guy and Neicy7vens,

The plaque at the base of the statue reads:

"A Gift from the People of the Republic of France to the People of the United States, this Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World Commemorates the Alliance of the Two Nations in Achieving the Independence of the United States of America and Attests their Abiding Friendship. Auguste Bartholdi, Sculptor. Inaugurated October 28th, 1886"

It had been intended to present the statue in 1876, during the centennial celebration of American independence, but numerous delays postponed the actual dedication for 10 years.

The tablet Lady Liberty is holding also has the date of July 4th, 1776 (Independence Day) inscribed on it.

So, yeah, Independence DID have something to do with it.

Meanoldbasterd said...

You STILL need to go back

Meanoldbasterd said...

All good reasons to have the goddam thing dynamited

Meanoldbasterd said...

So... The South was right? Hallelujah Jaffar!!